Hawaiians used to refer to the area of Kihei as “Kama’ole” which means “barren.” Situated on the coast, southwest of Haleakala, the area was noted for its dry, dusty and hot days – with less than 13 inches of rain annually.

An effort in the early 1900′s to establish a sugar plantation in the area met with failure. By 1930 only about 350 people made Kihei their home. There was no paved roadway. Other than non-native kiawe trees and good fishing spots, there was little to attract people to Kihei.

Kihei History:

In 1932 the government placed eleven beach lots up for sale. Only six were sold. Even by 1950, plots capable of being farmed sold for a mere $225 an acre. Residential property could be bought for as little as five cents a square foot. It seemed that aside from a few scattered businesses, no one wanted to live or work in Kihei.All of that changed in the late 1960′s when water was piped in to the area from Central and West Maui and developers saw an area ripe for sun-loving tourists.

Between 1970 and 1980, development of Kihei was done with no real plan in mind. Lots were gobbled up and condominium units were built right on top of each other. Shopping centers and strip malls popped up every couple of blocks.

Before long tourists looking for sun and surf began to flock to Kihei. Today over 60 condominiums and a few small hotels make Kihei one of Hawaii’s busiest beach towns.

Geography

Kihei is located at 20°4533?N, 156°2726?W (20.759122, -156.457228).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 11.9 square miles (30.8 km²), of which, 10.2 square miles (26.3 km²) of it is land and 1.7 square miles (4.5 km²) of it (14.55%) is water. It is considered to be the South Side of Maui.

Demographics

As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 16,749 people, 6,170 households, and 3,813 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,648.6 people per square mile (636.5/km²). There were 9,170 housing units at an average density of 902.6/sq mi (348.5/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 47.76% White, 0.74% African American, 0.48% Native American, 24.72% Asian, 7.85% Pacific Islander, 1.58% from other races, and 16.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.52% of the population.

Research

Several research facilities are located in Kihei, including the main offices for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary,[3] seed operations by Dekalb Genetics Corporation and Monsanto, and the Maui Research and Technology Park, which is home to the Maui High Performance Computing Center (MHPCC) and is overseen by the Air Force, Maui Optical and Supercomputing observatory (AMOS).

Sources: About.com & Wikipedia.org